How to drive retail sales with quick and effective signage

Every retailer knows that sales don’t happen if customers can’t find what they want. And it turns out that the best way to lead your customers to the products they’re looking for is one of the oldest: in-store signage. Printed signs and tags might not be as exciting as mixed-reality installations, digital signage and ‘click and collect’ apps, but they’re cheap, effective and, if used right, can reinforce your brand, build customer loyalty and help boost sales. Here’s how.

Signs for selling

Shopify reckons you should think of your in-store signs as “your silent but highest-selling salespeople” and suggests keeping them specific (include key details), simple (no m
ore than five seconds to read), structured (headline, text, call to action) and direct (make sure it has a distinct goal or purpose).

Design-wise, you need to consider your branding and how it translates to signage. This includes fonts and logos, as well as creating a consistent style that’s recognisably yours. Consider the tasks you need them to perform, from basic pricing to persuasive selling, and how to produce signs that do big work for a small price.

DIY signage to build your brand

Producing catchy signage is an art. In a world saturated by advertising, you want your messages to be fresh and interesting so they ‘cut through’ and grab shoppers’ attention.

But retail can move at breakneck speeds. By the time you’ve sent your carefully crafted message off to the printers, your suppliers have released a new deal – or added a sweetener to the current offering.

This means it can be a genuine business advantage to be able to produce your own signage in-house. Not only can you create new messages faster, but you’ll also save on the cost and hassle of sending designs to a printer.

And while we love the great work a professional designer can do – and we definitely recommend it for your big campaigns and strategic marketing – there’s no reason why you can’t design tactical in-store signage yourself. Just keep in mind these rules, backed by psychological research:

Keep it simple.

Consistently use colour to break through.

Scale the size of the sign to the environment.

Unique shapes generate visual interest.

Locate branding near the visual to create stronger brand linkage.

Keep headlines short.

Use engaging visuals.

Ensure the right balance between the headline and visual.

Signage printers: Bigger is better

Specifically, having an A3 printer at the ready can be a life-saver. Have you ever taped together two or four A4 sheets to make a bigger sign? Compromised on size? Lost clarity or the integrity of a design by scaling it down and printing it at the wrong size?

A good A3 printer can save you considerable time and hassle while allowing you to print visually striking signs at an effective size.

But whatever you produce, and however you produce it, one thing is for sure: if your signage isn’t working for you, you’re missing a great opportunity to build your brand, inform your customers and, ultimately, bring more people to the register.

Our market leading A3 inkjet machines have been the go-to for retails stores and restaurants to produce high-quality signage and menus, so how can we help your business?